Deliverer of packages from moving cars



No. 6|4,863. Patented Nov. 29, |898.

F. M. HATCH. DELIVERER 0F PACKAGES FROM MOVING CARS.

(Application filed' Mar. 7, 1898.) (No Model.)

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NiTnD STATES PATENT Fries.

FRANCIS M. HATCH, OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 614,863, dated November 29, 1898. Application filed March '7, 1898. Serial No. 672,891. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS M. HATCH, a citizen of the United States, residing at South Bend, inthe county of St. Joseph and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Deliverers of Packages from Moving Gars, of which the follow ing is a specification.

The object of my invention is to produce a device for delivering packages or other similar articles from moving railway-cars in such a manner as to substantially counteract the effect upon such packages produced by the movement of the train.

It consists, generally speaking, of a delivery-wheel to be actuated from one of the caraxles, the periphery of which contains recesses or pockets for the articles and which is so speeded as to move at substantially the saine rate that the train is moving forward, so that by arranging the discharge-point at that side of the delivery-Wheel which is running toward the rear of the train the speed of the train will be substantially counteracted and the article dropped at about the point where it is thrown from the train, and thus secure that the force with which such article comes in contact with the platform or ground will not much exceed the ordinary force of an article of `similar weight in merely dropping through such a distance.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof and on which similar letters and numerals of referenceindicate similar parts, Figure l is a side elevation of one end of a railway-car provided with a delivery mechanism embodying my present invention 5 Fig. 2, a view of said mechanism and adjacent parts as seen when looking in the div rection indicated by the arrows from the dotted line 2 2 in Fig. l; Fig. 3, a horizontal sectional view as seen when looking downwardly from the dotted line 3 3 in Fig. l, a portion of the floor of the car being broken away to show the mechanism beneath; Fig. 4, a detail sectional View, on an enlarged scale, of the delivery-wheel separately on the dotted line fl 4 in Fig. ogand Fig. 5, a detail view showing the clutch more plainly.

In carrying out my said invention I mount a shaft Vl in suitable bearings 2, preferably on the truck-frame 3 of the car. On one of the ordinary caraxles 4 I have shown a sprocket-Wheel 5, from which a chain belt 6. runs to a similar sprocket-wheel 7, loosely mounted on the shaft l. A friction-clutch 8, which is adapted to be operated by lever 9, is a suitable means for causing the rotation of the shaft l, as will be readily understood.

Upon the outer end of the shaft l is the delivery-wheel A, which is composed of an ordinary hub and spokes, with a rim ct at the end of said spokes and wings ct extending ont from said rim, the spaces between the wings being the pockets or recesses which constitute receptacles for the packages or other articles.

Surrounding the delivery-wheel is a casing B, which is somewhat in the form of an ordinary fan-casing, having a hopper or opening b in the upper side to receive the bundles and a discharge outlet or mouth b', arranged tangentially to its lower side, through which the bundles are to be delivered. This discharge-outlet may be curved from the car side somewhat, as best shown in Fig. 3, in order that the bundles may be given a slight outward movement at the time they are delivered, and thus insuredfrom being thrown or drawn under the car.

Vhile I have shown sprocket-wheels,a chain belt, and a clutch as the means for operating my delivery-wheel, it is obvious that frictionpulleys or other similar or suitable propelling mechanism may be substituted therefor without departing from my invention, which consists not in the particular means of driving it, but in a delivery-wheel mounted and op erated in the manner described.

The operation of my invention may be brieily recapitulated as follows: Ordinarily the shaft l is quiescent, the sprocket-wheel 7 running loosely thereon. As the train approachesapoint where it is desired to deliver an article, as a bundle of papers, the person having charge of the matter is able to place said article within the pocket or recess in the upper side of the delivery-wheel through the hopper-like opening in its casing. lVhenthe point or station has been reached where it is desired to deliver the article, he operates the lever 9, thus throwing the clutch into en gage; ment and setting the shaft 1 in motion, when the article to be delivered is carried around IOO between the rim of said Wheel and the surrounding case from the point Where it is placed in the delivery-Wheel to the deliveryoutlet, where it is discharged, the impulse being thus in the opposite direction to that in which the train is moving. The result is that the article drops without much force at substantially the point Where it leaves the deliverer, instead of bein gimpelled with great force in the direction of the motion of the train, as is ordinarily the case.

Having thus full y described my said invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, in a deliverer of packages from moving cars, with a car and a caraxle, of a delivery-Wheel, a suitable casing therefor, and means for driving said delivery- Wheel from an axle of the car.

2. The combination, with a car, of a package-deliverer consisting of a suitable casing having an opening or hopper through which articles may be introduced, a delivery-opening tangential to said casing and opening in the direction reverse'to that of the motion of' FRANCIS M. HATC] l.

lVitn esses:

CHESTER BRADFORD, JAMES A. WALSH.

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